Once she started to relax, her sheets released their grip and she was able to climb out of bed.  She hadn’t had a nightmare like that in a long time.  The thoughts in her brain made the morning even fuzzier than usual.  She showered as quickly as she could.  By the time she got out, she was running behind.  She’d had to wash her hair on account of it being drenched in sweat.

The mirror in the bathroom was covered with condensation.  Morgan saw her shadowy reflection.  Then she thought she saw it move.  Her hand trembled as she reached out and wiped the mirror.  There was only her own face looking back at her.

Morgan dried and straightened her hair faster than was humanly possible.  Her mother tried to get her to eat breakfast for the thousandth time.  She only had a few seconds before the bus rumbled around the corner though, so she shrugged and gave her mother a half smile and went back to brushing her teeth at a hundred miles per hour.

Diving into her coat and throwing her bag over one shoulder, Morgan sprinted down her driveway and reached the stop just as the bus’s glass door slammed shut.  The grass was crisp and white at the edges from the frost.  Luckily there hadn’t been a snowfall or she probably would’ve slipped.

The glass doors snapped open, sticking a little along the way like they always do.  A couple of the kids in back groaned loudly.  They’d probably been looking forward to watching her chase the bus down the street.  Morgan shot a dirty look back there but then turned her attention to finding a seat.  That was more important, since she was one of the last people picked up before school.  Morgan saw Teri’s eyes barely making it over the top of a seat.

Falling into the space next to her as the bus shook and started moving, Morgan looked at Teri.  She had her coat and her bag and her hair was done, but she looked like a different person than she had yesterday.  Her eyes had faint, dark circles underneath and she wasn’t smiling.

Morgan blinked a few times.  She didn’t know what she looked like, but it was probably a change for the worse too.  Mornings were always tough, but her nightmare had left her more tired than when she’d gone to bed last night.

“You look just like I feel,” Morgan said.

Teri didn’t say anything at first.  Maybe she wanted to be silent.  She’d been clammed up since the accident at the musical rehearsal, before that really.  But Morgan needed to talk.

“I had a really weird dream last night.  A nightmare really.”

Teri finally turned and looked her in the eyes.  “What was it?”

“I saw her.”

Morgan didn’t need to say which ‘her’ she was talking about.  Teri shuddered, not from the motion of the bus, but a sudden chill.

“I don’t know what’s happening to us.”